Places > Book of remembrance for Tweeddale > Landward Parishes

County of Peebles Book of Remembrance.
33
out to Gallipoli in September, 1915, having vol-
unteered for foreign service. He was killed in
action at Gallipoli on Friday, 24th December,
1915, aged 23 years. His officer wrote to his
father : —
" Dear Sir, — You will have learned before
this of the sad newsi of the death of your
son. It was caused by a sliell bursting in the
part of the trench where he was sitting.
Death was instantaneous, and he suffered no
pain. He was one of the bravest and most
promising of our non-commissioned officers.
His death leaves a blank which it will be
difficult to fill. He was buried in the Ceme-
tery of the 52nd Di^•ision."
From his diary one sees how keen he was
from the notes on entrenching, the careful lists
he kept, the troop roll, the names and ad-
dresses of the next-of-kin. In the diary he tells
of the regimental order for active service,
equipment, the farewell, the gi'eat send-off
from Cupar, the embarkation on the troopship
" Arcadian " — the voyage to the East, for Gal-
lipoli, passing Gibraltar, a view of the African
Coast, aiTival at Valetta, reaching Mudros, the
landing, the hillside burrowed out like a rabbit
warren, Achi Baba, his intention to record
each day in his diary the day's work ; we read
of fatigue duty, men suffering from dysentery,
his joy receiving home letters and parcels, the
winter cold and blizzards, their moving up to
Eski lines, the torrential rains, and then the
record ends with a pathetic sketch entitled
" Tlie Soldier's Dream."
The soldier on guaxd in the trenches, with
greatcoat, rifle and bayonet; the soldier's re-
turn, the evening meal, the loved ones around
the boaxd, a faithful collie getting a tit-bit, the
soldier in the place of honour, the fire blinking
bonnily, and the words " Home, Sweet Home."
When the fatal shell burst in the trenches a
comrade tells that Gavin was reading one of
Burns' poems, thinking of the dear old country.
Faithful unto death through the faith in the
great Captain of our Salvation and Elder
Brother, has he not found the eternal home
and the assurance of the glad re-union ?
" They cannot die whose lives are part
Of the great life that is to be.
Whose hearts beat with the world's gi'eat
heart,
And throb with its high destiny."
TROOPER JAMES ANDERSON
(Innerleithen)
1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry.
1915. December 25.
The ancient fighting spirit of the Borders
survives yet among the hopes and glens of
Peeblesshire, and the toll exacted by the war
from the sons of the shepherds and farmers of
the Upper Borders will serve to demonstrate to
unborn generations how these stalwart sons of
Tweeddale, scions of those' who fell at Flodden,
were not afraid to give up all, even life itself,
for Scotland and the Empire. Tlie 1st Lanark-
shire Yeomany specially distinguished them-
selves. Many of its gallant members fell;
others received decorations; many others de-
served them, but did not survive to have their
merits acknowledged.
Trooper James Anderson, second son of
George Anderson, shepherd, left the beautifully-
wooded hillsides of Glenormiston at the be-
ginning of the war and enlisted in the Yeo-
manry. Bravely he fought in the disastrous
expedition of the Dardanelles. He had all but
won through, because the evacuation was de-
cided upon, and had been proceeding for some
days, when a Turkish sdrell laid him low on
Christmas Day (Saturday), 1915. By the 10th
of the following month the British had
evacuated thie whole of Gallipoli Peninsula,
leaving in its occupation the bodies of more
than a hundred thousand heroes, who, although
not attaining at the time their objective, which
was Constantmople, yet in the end by their
glorious self-sacrifice rendered succesisful the
entry of the British into that historic city and
also the victory of the war. Of these was
Trooper James Anderson, who was a real hard
worker, and very popular among the men.
But now the day has com© along —
With rifle, haversack, and pack.
We're off a hundred thousand strong.
And some of us will not come back.
But all we ask if that befall
Is this. Within your hearts be writ
This single line memorial —
" He did his duty and his bit."
LCE.-CPL. ALBERT MURRAY
(Walkerburn)
11th Royal Scots.
1915. Friday, December 31.
Died of wound, received on Dec. 12th, at
Wharnecliffe War Hospital, Sheffield, L.-Corpl.
Albei't Murray, 11th Royal Scots, son of Wm.